Vacancy for SINE2020 Postdoc in Biophysics

This position will be funded by the project SINE2020 through the WP on Macromolecular Crystallogenesis at the ILL.

02/11/2015

THISPOSITION IS NOWCLOSED.

The Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) is an international centre for scientific research situated in Grenoble, France. This position is funded by the EU SINE2020 project and aims to develop methods that enhance the efficiency and quality of neutron diffraction methods in structural biology, supporting developments in this area at existing and future neutron beam sources in Europe.

Job description

This position will be held within ILL’s Life Sciences Group, located in the Grenoble Partnership for Structural Biology (PSB – http://www.psb-grenoble.eu/). Your work will focus on the development of protein crystallogenesis methods for the production of large crystals suitable for neutron protein crystallography (NMX). The project involves partners from Jülich & Munich (FRM-II) and Lund (ESS), and also engages with the pharmaceuticals sector, where there is interest in the information that can be produced using NMX methods. There is also interest in automating the approaches developed, and the project involves a company that has extensive experience in robotic approaches for crystallogenesis.

Specific tasks will include:

production and purification of proteins and characterisation in terms of their phase diagrams,

evaluation of wide range of approaches for large crystal growth, including potential robotic approaches,

testing of crystal systems on neutron diffractometers at ILL and FRM-II, and structure analysis,

production of reports and organisation of workshops/meetings associated with the project.

The project will involve interaction with partners/collaborators at FRM-II, Jülich, the European Spallation neutron Source (ESS) in Lund, and scientists from GlaxoSmithKline, Douglas Instruments, CFEL (DESY, Hamburg) and ISIS (RAL).

Requested Profile

Qualifications and experience:

You hold a PhD in Biophysics, Biochemistry or an appropriate physical science.
We are particularly interested in highly motivated candidates with good experience of protein purification, crystallisation and associated analysis skills.

Language skills:

As an international research centre, we are particularly keen to ensure that we also attract applicants from outside France. You must have a sound knowledge of English and be willing to learn French (a language course will be paid for by the ILL). Knowledge of German would be an advantage.

How to apply:
Please submit your application on-line with a list of publications and the name of 3 references (including one from your present work place), no later than 30/11/2015, via http://www.ill.eu/careers (vacancy reference: 15/20). The interviews will take place in the 2nd or 3rd week of January 2016.

Further information can be obtained by contacting the Head of the Life Sciences group, Prof. Trevor Forsyth or via http://www.ill.eu/lsg (please do not send your application to this address).